Elizabethan England’s Rotten Sweet Tooth
IN ONE OF HIS sonnets, Shakespeare described the reeking breath of his lady love, and the subject came up again in two of his plays. He sets…
When to Expect Baby Teeth to Appear
A COUPLE OF the biggest rites of passage in childhood are the first baby teeth coming in and the…
How Do Braces Actually Work?
MOVING TEETH INTO their proper alignment is a complicated and fascinating process, so how do braces do it? Let’s…
Endodontics History: Surprisingly Wild
AS FAR BACK as the second or third century B.C., people have been trying to operate on infected teeth…
Cavities: The Most Common Childhood Disease
40% OF KIDS WILL develop at least one cavity by the time they turn eleven, which makes tooth decay the most common disease of childhood. That…
Why the Banned Foods List Matters
EVERY CURRENT AND former orthodontic patient knows about the banned foods list. It can mostly be summarized as “don’t eat anything…
Tips for Managing a Toothache
SOMETIMES WHEN WE get a toothache, there are hours or more standing between us and the help of the dentist or endodontist. Here…
How Do Swimming and Diving Affect Teeth?
“SWIMMER’S CALCULUS” SOUNDS more like advanced mathematics than anything to do with teeth, but it’s actually the term for yellow…
Dental Health in Ancient Cultures
WE TEND TO ASSUME that people from earlier eras (especially the pre-industrial ones) must have had terrible dental health, but that’s…
Never Forget That Teeth Are Not Tools
TEETH HAVE MANY different uses, from chewing our food to helping us speak clearly to forming the structure…